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Biodiversity: Past, Present, and Future

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 July 2015

J. John Sepkoski Jr.*
Affiliation:
Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637

Extract

Biodiversity is the number and variability of genes, species, and communities in space and time (Norse et al., 1986; Wilson, 1988; Heywood and Baste, 1995). The fundamental question that has governed its study in modern times is Hutchinson's (1959): “Why are there so many kinds of animals?” In more recent decades, a somber subquestion has been added: How many species are dying every year (e.g., Wilson, 1992)?

Type
Presidential Address
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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